Mumbai: The language dispute in Maharashtra has become even more intense now. Politics has heated up over the statement of BJP MP from Godda, Jharkhand, Nishikant Dubey, that he will beat them up. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has strongly attacked BJP and Nishikant Dubey over this statement.
Targeting Nishikant, Uddhav Thackeray said that some people are attacking the peace and harmony of Maharashtra like hyenas. An attempt is being made to divide the society by inciting the language dispute. He accused the BJP of adopting the policy of “divide and rule” and dividing the society for political gain.
Thackeray also clarified that we are not against any language, our MPs in Parliament also speak Hindi. But we are against the imposition of any language forcibly.
Meanwhile, criticizing Maharashtra government minister Ashish Shelar, he said that comparing the incidents on non-Marathi people with terrorist attacks is very unfortunate and an insult to the Marathi society. Are the terrorists of Pahalgam hiding in the houses of BJP leaders? Thackeray hit back at Fadnavis for calling his rally ‘Rudali’ and said, this is an insult to Marathi pride. BJP has to borrow words and people from others even to cry.
Yogesh Kadam, minister of Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) in Maharashtra government, also condemned the statement of Nishikant Dubey and said that he is a four-time MP, he should maintain the dignity of his post. Such statements harm the social fabric and there will be a strong reaction if they are repeated.
The language controversy started when workers of Raj Thackeray’s party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) beat up a shopkeeper just because he did not reply in Marathi. After this, Raj Thackeray’s statement came out in which he said, beat but do not make a video. On this, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey challenged and said, if you think yourself very big then come to UP-Bihar, we will beat you up. He also challenged MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) to take action against those who speak Urdu, Tamil and Telugu. This controversy has now increased political activity at the national level and has fueled the debate of linguistic identity versus national unity in Maharashtra.
